Parashat Shemot: The Birth of a Nation By Michal Groushko Taitel, Prinicipal of OTS’s Jennie Sapirstein High School for Girls in Ramot, Jerusalem Dr. Orit Avneri shared some beautiful new ideas on Parashat Shemot in her writing, which I summarize below. In the first few verses of the Book of Exodus, we encounter several expressions …

Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, and God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob…” (The Opening Blessing of the Amida) The opening of the Amida prayer stops with Jacob’s name. But why should …

Parshat Shemot(Exodus 1:1-6:1) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel –– “And Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” It is “received wisdom” that successful leaders must possess a certain level of ego and degree of narcissism in order …

Parshat Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1) Rabbi David Stav Out of terrible human tragedies can come the most remarkable universal examples of heroism and humanity. Such is the case in Parshat Shemot. Curiously, although the Torah condenses hundreds of years of slavery and suffering at the hands of the Egyptians into a mere ten verses, it dedicates many …

Parshat Shemot (Exodus 1:1 – 6:1) Rabbi David Stav Yaakov and his sons haved passed away, and a new king came to reign over Egypt, who either did not know about, or did not want to know about, the special relationship that existed between Egypt and Yosef and his family. The new king gradually and consistently passes …

Parshat Shemot (Exodus 1:1 – 6:1) Rabbi David Stav Yaakov and his sons haved passed away, and a new king came to reign over Egypt, who either did not know about, or did not want to know about, the special relationship that existed between Egypt and Yosef and his family. The new king gradually and consistently passes …